Attacking Iran will be 'premature': US commander
20 February, 2012
WASHINGTON: The top US military commander said, he believed it would be premature to take military action against Iran, in response to its nuclear programme, in an interview.
Joint Chiefs of Staff's Chairman General Martin Dempsey also told CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" programme that economic sanctions have to be given a chance to work, and the United States and its allies should be better prepared for a military option.
"I think it would be premature to exclusively decide that the time for a military option was upon us," Dempsey said, according to excerpts of the interview released by CNN.
"I think that the economic sanctions and the international cooperation that we've been able to gather around sanctions is beginning to have an effect," he added.
In recent weeks, there has been feverish speculation that Israel was getting closer to mounting a pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, but Israel has denied reaching such a decision.
Tensions between Iran and Israel have also been simmering with Iranian warships entering the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal in a show of 'might', a move Israel said it would closely monitor.
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